Saturday, 16 July 2011

Legend of Seshachalam Hill

The origins of the Tirumala Hills lies in a contest between vayu (wind god) and Adisesha (first serpent). During Dvapara Yuga, Vayu was barred from entering Vaikuntam as Lord Vishnu was in the company of his consort, Lakshmi. An incesed Vayu challenged adisesha for a fight to decide the stronger between them, Vayu was tasked with trying to blow off adisesha from the holy Meru mountain while adisesha was asked to protect the peak with his hood. After a long time, vayu gave way and adisesha lifted his hoods assuming that he won the contest when vayu blew off one of the peaks. The peak landed near swarnamukhi river and is currently known as seshachalam hill.[citation needed] A variant to the legend is that the contest created pandemonium on earth and Brahma, Indra and other gods pleaded with adisesha to relent. When adisesha oblidged, the peak (Ananda hill) and adisesha were blown off Meru and landed near the banks of river Swarnamukhi. When Adisesha was dejected with his defeat, the Gods converted adisesha into the seven hills with the hood named as Seshadri hill or Seshachalam hill or Venkatadri hill. Another variant to the story is that sesha was fatigued by the contest and was instructed by Lord Venkateswara to rest on Earth in a place that he chose for his stay in Kali YugaSeshachalam Hills

Legends:

Sri Venkatachala Mahatmya is referred to in several Puranas, of which the most important are the Varaha Purana and the Bhavishyottara Purana.

The printed work contains extracts from the Varaha Purana, Padma Purana, Garuda Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Markandeya Purana, Harivamsa, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana, Brahmottara Purana, Aditya Purana, Skanda Purana and Bhavishyottara Purana. Most of these extracts describe the sanctity and antiquity of the hills around Tirumala and the numerous teerthams situated on them.

The legends taken from the Venkatachala Mahatmya and the Varaha Purana, pertaining to the manifestation of the Lord at Tirumala, are of particular interest.

According to the Varaha Purana, Adi Varaha manifested Himself on the western bank of the Swami Pushkarini, while Vishnu in the form of Venkateswara came to reside on the southern bank of the Swami Pushkarini.

One day, Rangadasa, a staunch devotee of Vishnu, in the course of his pilgrimage, joined Vaikhanasa Gopinatha, who was going up the Tirumala Hill for the daily worship of Lord Venkateswara. After bathing in the Swami Pushkarini, he beheld the lotus-eyed and blue-bodied Vishnu beneath a tamarind tree. Vishnu was exposed to the sun, wind and rain and was only protected by the extended wings of Garuda.

Rangadasa was astounded by the wonderful sight. He raised a rough wall of stones around the deity, and started supplying flowers faithfully to Gopinatha everyday for Vishnu's worship.

One day, Rangadasa was distracted by a Gandharva king and his ladies. Consequently, he forgot to supply flowers to Gopinatha for Vishnu's worship. The Lord then revealed Himself and told Rangadasa that He had been testing the latter's continence, but Rangadasa had not been steadfast and had succumbed to temptation.

However, the Lord accepted and appreciated Rangadasa's devoted service to Him till then, and blessed Rangadasa that he would be reborn as an affluent ruler of a province and would enjoy the earthly pleasures. He would continue to serve the Lord, construct a beautiful temple with a vimana and high surrounding walls, and thereby earn eternal glory.

Rangadasa was reborn as Tondaman, the son of the royal couple, Suvira and Nandini. Tondaman enjoyed a pleasurable life as a young man. One day, he set out on a hunting expedition on the Tirumala Hill, and with the help of a forester, saw Vishnu under the tamarind tree. Tondaman returned home, deeply affected by the vision of Vishnu.

Tondaman later inherited his father's kingdom, Tondamandalam. In accordance with the directions given by Adi Varaha to a forester, Tondaman constructed a prakaram and dvara gopura, and arranged for regular worship of the Lord (according to Vaikhanasa Agama).

In the Kali Yuga, Akasaraja came to rule over Tondamandalam. His daughter Padmavathi was married to Venkateswara. The marriage, officiated by Brahma, was celebrated with great pomp and splendour.

The Seven Hills

The seven hill represent the Saptarishi. They sometimes called the Sapathagiri. Hence the Lord is named Saptagirinivasa. Following are the seven hills:

• Vrushabadri (Hill of Nandi, the vahana of Lord Shiva)

• Anjanadri (Hill of Lord Hanuman)

• Neeladri (Hill of Neela Devi) - When Lord Balaji was hit by a shepard on his head, a small portion of his scalp becomes bald. There is no hair growth over there and this is noticed by a Gandharva princess Neela Devi. She feels "such an attractive face should not have a flaw". Immediately she cuts a portion of her hair and with her magical power she implants it on his scalp. Then Lord Balaji notices her sacrifice as hair is the beautiful aspect of female, he promises her that all his devotees who come to his abode should render their hair to him and she would be the recipient of all that hair received. Hence it is believed that hair offered by the devotees is accepted by Neela devi.

• Garudadri (Hill of Garuda, the vahana of Lord Vishnu)

• Seshadri (Hill of Sesha, the dasa of Lord Vishnu)

• Naraynadri (Hill of Narayana (Vishnu))

• Venkatadri (Hill of Lord Venkateswara)

Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam, the range of 7 hills are known that Seshalam, Garudachalam, Venkatadri, Narayanadri, Vrishabhadri, Anjanadri, Neeladri. and represents the great serpent bed.